Tire choice for winter miles setup

[ducman]

I'm about to buy some tires for my winter ride.
As i'm living in Belgium that means lots of rain & mornings a good few degrees below 0°Celsius. For the moment i'm still using my summer gravel tires MaxxisRambler.
Great tire, but i'm strugling to much keeping up with others on 25mm road tires.

So, my only reason not taking 28 or 30mm road tires (GP5000 or something similar) is
me thinking that on frozen roads, Rambler tires have more grip. Is this just my imagination, or does a knob tire have more grip in icy roads? Not snow, just frozen tarmac. And what about wet tarmac?

[TobinHatesYou]

I'm about to buy some tires for my winter ride.
As i'm living in Belgium that means lots of rain & mornings a good few degrees below 0°Celsius. For the moment i'm still using my summer gravel tires MaxxisRambler.
Great tire, but i'm strugling to much keeping up with others on 25mm road tires.

So, my only reason not taking 28 or 30mm road tires (GP5000 or something similar) is
me thinking that on frozen roads, Rambler tires have more grip. Is this just my imagination, or does a knob tire have more grip in icy roads? Not snow, just frozen tarmac. And what about wet tarmac?

If it’s truly iced over, then you need studs to break the surface of the ice. If it’s slush, then knobby tread will help. Wet, but not icy conditions, tread doesn’t really matter.

[ducman]

Ok, thats true, but if one has to make a choice on freshly iced morning roads between for instance gp5000 30mm or Maxxis Rambler....?
I'm not so sure a knob tire has more grip on icy tarmac.

[TobinHatesYou]

Like I said, if there's lots of actual ice, you need studs. If it's a very rare patch of "black ice" just ride whatever and keep a very watchful eye on the road.

[ducman]

I went for 28mm GP5000 TL's, oh my god! They roll so nice... 4.5bar seems to be the sweet spot.

[jesper2913]

As mentioned above, if you´re riding on ice, you need studs. When you´re riding on regular tarmac, you don´t want studs. In other words, you have to choose, were you want to ride. You can´t have it both ways. If you don´t have clean tarmac in your region ATM, just ride your Maxxis Rambler tires off road. Or ride off road with studded tires.

[bm0p700f]

UK weather is similar to Belgium's. When its sub zero I stick to gritted road mostly and take more care. If I know there patches of ice I take alot of care. Studded tyres are for sheer ice.

[ducman]

I was just wondering which of the 2 sort of tires has the most grip in wet and near frozen conditions. Riding these GP5000 28's, i don't think the Ramblers have mor grip on road in these conditions. The GP's are really confidence inspiring. For what it's worth.

[biwa]

Panaracer Evo3 tires are good for winter, strong puncture resistance and plenty of grip, and no slow for winter tires

[Lewn777]

Panaracer Evo3 tires are good for winter, strong puncture resistance and plenty of grip, and no slow for winter tires

Yes, they are fantastic tires the Race A and Race D are both very tough, but dealing with occassional black ice and snow/slush (originally coming from South East England with very similar conditions to Belgium), I would prefer something with more bite, although as soon as the weather could be realiably over 5c I would switch back to the Panaracers. Knobs always do better in snow and ice than slicks. Personally if it's going to be cold enough for black ice I'd switch to a mountain bike or ride indoors.

[ducman]

Somebody should 'scientificly' test if Mtb, or knob for that matter, have more grip on ice then same size slick tires. I'm not so sure they have.

[dolophonic]

Conti 4 seasons or gator skins are robust but roll good enough.

[bm0p700f]

Somebody should 'scientificly' test if Mtb, or knob for that matter, have more grip on ice then same size slick tires. I'm not so sure they have.

On sheet ice no on parcty ice maybe if there still is surface texture.

[kdawg]

I agree with what has been said so far but I don't think anyone has mentioned pressure. That makes a big difference - lower pressure gives more grip and with a wider tyre you can use lower pressure.

I proved that myself a few weeks ago - my rear tyre was a little low so I used the cheap pump I keep at work to add some air - and then promptly nearly killed myself going round a corner - the back end just disappeared and I'm amazed I didn't go down.

When I checked with my good pump I'd put nearly 130psi in a 25mm tyre and on a wet road that was treacherous.

On really bad days my commuter has 35mm tyres with only a shallow tread and they feel really sure footed at 60/70psi.